Taking a toddler to Disney??

[floydpink]

Originally Posted by shilala

Hey Moe-sy, I always bought my hopper passes from the people outside 7-11. It was a little scary the first time and seemed a little shady, but I got my tickets at a decent discount.
Disney scalpers rock.

worst advice ever.

The tickets now require a bioscan. In other words, you need to put your finger on a blue light entering the park. If they aren't the same persons who bough them, you are outta luck and outta money and they don't feel sorry if you say you bought them at 7/11. I deal with this every day and know.

The only way this works is if you buy a hopper then take it to Downtown Disney's store and upgrade it to to more days, which may be complicated for a first timer.

More misinformation here as well; Hoppers only expire if you don't add the no expiration option on them. You start with a base, then add the options you want, like hopping, water parks, and no expiration. If you will return at some point of your life, adding extra days after 5 days only costa a few extra dollars. Make sure to put on the no expiration option.

[md4958]

Originally Posted by shilala

Hey Moe-sy, I always bought my hopper passes from the people outside 7-11. It was a little scary the first time and seemed a little shady, but I got my tickets at a decent discount.
Disney scalpers rock.

Me neither

Arent we all lucky to know Scotty?

[floydpink]

I talk to a few thousand tourists a week. (thus my high blood pressure)

One of the things I tell them is that if you would feel comfortable buying discounted airline tickets outside a convenience sore, go ohead with your Disney tickets. The Disney tickets prolly cost more.

Years ago it was ok, but with the bioscan, it's a thing of the past,

[md4958]

Originally Posted by floydpink

worst advice ever.

The tickets now require a bioscan. In other words, you need to put your finger on a blue light entering the park. If they aren't the same persons who bough them, you are outta luck and outta money and they don't feel sorry if you say you bought them at 7/11. I deal with this every day and know.

The only way this works is if you buy a hopper then take it to Downtown Disney's store and upgrade it to to more days, which may be complicated for a first timer.

More misinformation here as well; Hoppers only expire if you don't add the no expiration option on them. You start with a base, then add the options you want, like hopping, water parks, and no expiration. If you will return at some point of your life, adding extra days after 5 days only costa a few extra dollars. Make sure to put on the no expiration option.

Floyd, all great advice, thanks!!

My son is sitting on my lap and flipped when he saw the pic of Mickey!

Im intrigued about the non-expiration and adding more days later thing you were talking about... I was wondering if you could expalin that to me in a bit more detail. Im pretty familiar with downtown disney.

When our son was 3, he loved it. He went non stop. We took a break in m-d afternoon so he could nap, but was wanting to go later in the evening. He loved the jumping water . I was quite surprise that he wanted to keep up all day.

[floydpink]

Originally Posted by md4958

Floyd, all great advice, thanks!!

My son is sitting on my lap and flipped when he saw the pic of Mickey!

Im intrigued about the non-expiration and adding more days later thing you were talking about... I was wondering if you could expalin that to me in a bit more detail. Im pretty familiar with downtown disney.

Ok here is the current situation. concerning Disney tickets.

You start out by picking your number of days, let's use 3 for example.
You pay about 80 bucks a day for an adult and about 70 per child ages 3-9. Under 3 is free, over 9 is adult.

For 3 days, you would pay about $240 adult, $210 child ages 3-9.

From there, you upgrade. To visit more than one park on the same day(waste of time and money), you pay a one time fee of $50 and the ticket becomes a hopper.

For about $40 extra, you get a couple water park visits anytime you chose. (bargain, considering the one time visit costs 40 bucks)

Depending on how many days you bought, there is a no expiration option ranging from 50-100 bucks. The tickets expire 14 days from your first use unless you do this.

If you figure out your cost per day on a 10 day ticet with the no expiration option, it comes out to about 30 bucks a day. Awesome if you will return at some point of your life, and Disney isn't taken under by the depression.

Whatever you chose, make a photocopy of the back of your tickets and put them in a safe place.
If you ever lose your tickets or run them throught the wash, the number on the back saves your ass and you get issued new tickets and don't have to buy new ones outside the Chucky Cheese.

Forgot to mention; the no expiration option can be put on ANY time before you use all your days up. Also, you can add extra days before you use up all your days.

In other words, if you buy the 3 day ticket and want to add another day, you pay the difference between a 3 and 4 day ticket, which is cheaper than a 1 day ticket. Also, a 3-7 day ticket is a small fee, so if you had a lot of fun and want to come back, add the extra days and put the no expiration option on.

[md4958]

Originally Posted by floydpink

Ok here is the current situation. concerning Disney tickets.

You start out by picking your number of days, let's use 3 for example.
You pay about 80 bucks a day for an adult and about 70 per child ages 3-9. Under 3 is free, over 9 is adult.

For 3 days, you would pay about $240 adult, $210 child ages 3-9.

From there, you upgrade. To visit more than one park on the same day(waste of time and money), you pay a one time fee of $50 and the ticket becomes a hopper.

For about $40 extra, you get a couple water park visits anytime you chose. (bargain, considering the one time visit costs 40 bucks)

Depending on how many days you bought, there is a no expiration option ranging from 50-100 bucks. The tickets expire 14 days from your first use unless you do this.

If you figure out your cost per day on a 10 day ticet with the no expiration option, it comes out to about 30 bucks a day. Awesome if you will return at some point of your life, and Disney isn't taken under by the depression.

Whatever you chose, make a photocopy of the back of your tickets and put them in a safe place.
If you ever lose your tickets or run them throught the wash, the number on the back saves your ass and you get issued new tickets and don't have to buy new ones outside the Chucky Cheese.

Great advice again Floyd! But I was looking at some prices and Im fairly certain that the no expiration for a 10 day was an extra $200. The difference between a 5 day pass and a 10 day pass is only like $30!

[floydpink]

Don't thin it's 200. Pick up your phone, dial 407-824-2222 and within 30 seconds, you will have a magically happy person hit by pixie dust on the phone acting as if you are them most imprtant person in the world who will give you EXACT and ACCURATE information.

Also, no more info unless you remove that avatar bashing my beloved Yankees damnit! I just noticed that.

[md4958]

Originally Posted by floydpink

Don't thin it's 200. Pick up your phone, dial 407-824-2222 and within 30 seconds, you will have a magically happy person hit by pixie dust on the phone acting as if you are them most imprtant person in the world who will give you EXACT and ACCURATE information.

Thanks again Floyd, and everybody that offered up info thus far.

Im tapped out on Rep points for 24 hrs, but I should be able to get you guys later tonight.

[68TriShield]

If it's for the boy, I'd hold off.He'll only remember tiny pieces of the trip.

[yourchoice]

My wife and I took our then 4 and 2 year old last year, and had a great time. I guess we're the "lucky" ones in that respect, so it's probably dependant on the child. I think Dave's advice:

Originally Posted by 68TriShield

If it's for the boy, I'd hold off.He'll only remember tiny pieces of the trip.

is very good. My wife and I however really enjoy going and I have a close friend who lives nearby that I get to see so it's worth it for us.

Now floydpink's advice is phenomenal... I'm scared to give too much of the info to my wife because she'll start planning, but I am definitely bookmarking the info.

If I may piggyback a question... If you bought, hypothetically, a 4 day pass that never expired then used only 3 days (leaving 1 day, duh!) and a year later wanted to add days to that ticket, say 3 more days making it a total of 4, would you pay the difference between a 1 and 4 day ticket, or the difference between a 4 and 7 day ticket, or something else? Hopefully that convoluted question makes some sense to someone!

[floydpink]

you'd pay the prorated difference between a 4-7 day ticket.

Disney raises the prices approx 6% a year, so you'd pay the prorated difference between the value of a 4 day then, and now, and wahtever 7 day choice you make.

[md4958]

Originally Posted by yourchoice

My wife and I took our then 4 and 2 year old last year, and had a great time. I guess we're the "lucky" ones in that respect, so it's probably dependant on the child. I think Dave's advice:

is very good. My wife and I however really enjoy going and I have a close friend who lives nearby that I get to see so it's worth it for us.

Now floydpink's advice is phenomenal... I'm scared to give too much of the info to my wife because she'll start planning, but I am definitely bookmarking the info.

If I may piggyback a question... If you bought, hypothetically, a 4 day pass that never expired then used only 3 days (leaving 1 day, duh!) and a year later wanted to add days to that ticket, say 3 more days making it a total of 4, would you pay the difference between a 1 and 4 day ticket, or the difference between a 4 and 7 day ticket, or something else? Hopefully that convoluted question makes some sense to someone!

Originally Posted by floydpink

you'd pay the prorated difference between a 4-7 day ticket.

Disney raises the prices approx 6% a year, so you'd pay the prorated difference between the value of a 4 day then, and now, and wahtever 7 day choice you make.

great question by Joel.

So then I could always add more days on later and pay the severly discounted pro-rated amount? Cause a 10day pass with no expiration adds $200 per ticket. (I confirmed that on disneys site. here http://tickets.disney.go.com/buy/Tic...&drnid=9851282)

I would rather by a 5 day pass now and be able to add on more later, just to save a little cash now

How about this:
F the kids, and we all go down for a Disney Herf, pass some sticks out to Goofy, Mikey, and Donald Duck, I'll personally take care of Ariel and Princess Jasmin, so don't worry about them.

But really, take your kids when they are old enough to talk and remember things.

I'm not a good judge on this one because i've never been.

[floydpink]

whatever you chose, let me know if you wanna meet Downtown Disney at Fuego or Sosa for a herf.

[newcigarz]

Originally Posted by floydpink

For 3 days, you would pay about $240 adult, $210 child ages 3-9.

Wow, is it that much? Another great reason to live in Florida.

Florida Resident Annual Pass (Ages 10 and Over) $359.00
Florida Resident Annual Pass (Ages 3-9) $316.00

And this is with no blackout dates, parking included, and hopper option.
Admission to water parks not included though.

[massphatness]

Originally Posted by 68TriShield

If it's for the boy, I'd hold off. He'll only remember tiny pieces of the trip.

My former out-laws used to live in the Orlando area. As a result, the first Mrs. Stolo and I would bring out kids to Disney quite frequently and when they were pretty young ... 3 - 4 years old. It's not that we regretted, but we definitely got the sense it wasn't nearly as much fun for the kids as we thought it would be. My advice is to wait a couple years before you do the DIsney thing. You're going to want Leo to remember the experience, and it's unlikely he'll do so at this age.

[floydpink]

In my opinion, the best attraction for under 4 year olds is Seaworld. They can get close to dolphins as well as walk through large aquariums and look right up at the fish which gives toddlers the visual stimulation they love and need.

Another bonus is the second day is free, so you don't have to kill yourself in a day trying to see it all.

Also the Shamu's Happy Harbor is designed for them and there is a splash area and sandbox for them to play in.

I have annual tickets to all the parks and my daughter picks Seaworld more times than Disney.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Blueface

Holy crap. Never even dawned on me.

They aim to please, too.
They'll cater to whatever you want. The girl I bought from last time gave me extra hopper cards so I got just what I wanted and just asked that I return the cards (they had more days at different parks on them).
So then she could sell the passes that were still on the cards to other people.
I bet I got 30% off on park passes at least. Maybe 50%.